Cross store customer recognition

Abstract

A first on-premises computing system of a first premises identifies a wireless device identifier of a customer, serves a customer registration interface to the customer's wireless device, and receives customer profile information input by the customer via the customer registration interface. The first on-premises computing system transmits a customer profile for the customer to a remote computing system via a wide area network (WAN) for storage at a remote database to establish a pre-registered customer profile. A second on-premises computing system physically located at or in a second premises, detects the wireless device of the customer physically present at or in the second premises, downloads the pre-registered customer profile from the remote database to the second on-premises computing system, and serves a customer-specific interface to the wireless device for the second premises which is modified particularly for the customer based on information in the pre-registered customer profile.

1 . A computerized method for recognizing customers, the method comprising:
 at a first on-premises computing system including one or more on-premises servers physically located at or in a first premises:
 identifying a wireless device identifier of a wireless device of a customer; 
 serving a customer registration interface from the first on-premises computing system to the wireless device; 
 receiving customer profile information input by the customer via the customer registration interface and the wireless device; 
 transmitting a customer profile for the customer to a remote computing system including a remote database via a wide area network (WAN) for storage at the remote database, the customer profile including the customer profile information input by the customer and the wireless device identifier; 
   at a second on-premises computing system including one or more on-premises servers physically located at or in a second premises:
 detecting the wireless device of the customer physically present at or in the second premises; 
 determining whether the wireless device is associated with a pre-registered customer profile stored at a second on-premises database of the second on-premises computing system; 
 upon determining that the wireless device is not associated with a pre-registered customer profile at the second on-premises database, determining whether the wireless device is associated with a pre-registered customer profile stored at the remote database; 
 upon determining that the wireless device is associated with a pre-registered customer profile stored at the remote database, downloading the pre-registered customer profile from the remote database to the second on-premises computing system; and 
 serving from the second on-premises computing system to the wireless device at or in the second premises, a customer-specific interface for the second premises which is modified particularly for the customer based on information in the pre-registered customer profile. 
   
     
     
         2 . The computerized method of  claim 1 , wherein the wireless device identifier is a MAC address or token of the wireless device. 
     
     
         3 . The computerized method of  claim 2 , wherein the first on-premises computing system includes a wireless local access network (WLAN) access point; and
 wherein identifying the wireless device identifier includes receiving one or more beacon frames from the wireless device at the WLAN access point, and identifying the MAC address or token as the wireless device identifier in the one or more beacon frames.   
     
     
         4 . The computerized method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 prior to serving the customer-specific interface, establishing a network connection between the first on-premises computing system and the wireless device via the WLAN.   
     
     
         5 . The computerized method of  claim 1 , wherein the first on-premises computing system includes a first on-premises database at which customer profiles are stored, and the second on-premises computing system includes a second on-premises database at which customer profiles are stored, the method further comprising:
 at the first on-premises computing system:
 prior to and as a pre-condition of serving the customer registration interface, determining whether the wireless device is associated with a pre-registered customer profile stored at the first on-premises database. 
   
     
     
         6 . The computerized method of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 after determining that the wireless device is not associated with a pre-registered customer profile stored at the first on-premises database, and prior to and as a precondition of serving the customer recognition interface, determining that the wireless device is not associated with a pre-registered customer profile stored at a remote database linked over a wide area network (WAN).   
     
     
         7 . The computerized method of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 storing the customer profile at the first on-premises database at the first premises.   
     
     
         8 . The computerized method of  claim 1 , wherein the customer profile information includes a customer name and payment data for the customer. 
     
     
         9 . The computerized method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 serving a customer-specific interface for the first premises from the first on-premises computing system to the wireless device after serving the customer registration interface, the customer-specific interface being particularly modified for the customer based upon information in the customer profile.   
     
     
         10 . The computerized method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 serving the customer registration interface in response to a request received from the wireless device.   
     
     
         11 . The computerized method of  claim 10 , wherein the request originates at the wireless device responsive to a user of the wireless device selecting a link in a captive portal interface served by the first on-premises computing system to the wireless device, and displayed at the wireless device. 
     
     
         12 . The computerized method of  claim 10 , wherein the request originates at the wireless device responsive to a user of the wireless device selecting a selector in an in-application notification. 
     
     
         13 . The computerized method of  claim 10 , wherein the request originates at the wireless device responsive to a user of the wireless device selecting a link in an email, social network, or SMS message. 
     
     
         14 . A computing method for recognizing customers, the method comprising:
 at a first on-premises computing system including one or more on-premises servers and a first on-premises database physically located at or in a first premises:
 detecting a wireless device of a customer physically present at or in the first premises; 
 receiving a computing device identifier associated with the computing device; 
 determining whether the computing device is associated with a pre-registered customer profile stored at the first database; 
 upon determining that the customer device is not associated with a pre-registered customer profile in the first database, determining whether the computing device is associated with a pre-registered customer profile stored at an aggregated database linked over a wide area network (WAN); 
 upon determining that the customer device is not associated with a pre-registered customer profile at the aggregated database, displaying a customer registration interface, 
 receive from the customer via the customer registration interface, profile information including customer name and payment data; 
 store the profile information at the first database at the first premises; 
 transmit the profile information of the customer from the first database to an aggregated remote database via a wide area network (WAN); 
   at a second on-premises computing system including one or more on-premises servers and a second on-premises database physically located at or in a second premises:
 detecting the computer device of the customer physically present at or in the second premises; 
 receiving the unique identifier of the computing device; 
 determining whether the computing device is associated with a pre-registered customer profile stored at the second database; 
 upon determining that the customer device is not associated with a pre-registered customer profile at the second database, displaying a customer registration interface, 
 upon determining that the customer device is not associated with a pre-registered customer profile at the second database, determining whether the computing device is associated with a pre-registered customer profile stored at the aggregated database linked over the wide area network (WAN); 
 upon determining that the computing device is associated with a pre-registered customer profile stored at the aggregated database, downloading the customer profile from the aggregated database to the second database; and 
 serving from the second computing system to the computing device at or in the second premises, a customer interface for the second premises, which is modified particularly for the customer based upon information in the customer profile. 
   
     
     
         15 . The computerized method of  claim 14 , wherein the computing device identifier is a MAC address or token identified from a beacon frame received by a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point of the first computing system. 
     
     
         16 . A computing system for recognizing customers, comprising:
 a first computing system physically positioned at or in a first premises, the first computing system being configured to:
 identify a computing device identifier associated with a computing device of a customer; 
 serve a customer registration interface from the first computing system to the computing device of a customer; 
 receive profile information inputted by the customer via the customer registration interface and computing device; 
 transmit a customer profile for the customer, the customer profile including the customer inputted profile information and the computing device identifier, to an aggregated database via a wide area network (WAN); 
   a second computing system physically positioned at or in a second premises, the second computing system being configured to:
 detect the computer device of the customer physically present at or in the second premises; 
 determine whether the computing device is associated with a pre-registered customer profile stored at the second database; 
 upon determining that the customer device is not associated with a pre-registered customer profile at the second database, determine whether the computing device is associated with a pre-registered customer profile stored at the aggregated database; 
 upon determining that the computing device is associated with a pre-registered customer profile stored at the aggregated database, download the customer profile from the aggregated database to the second computing system; and 
 serve from the second computing system to the computing device at or in the second premises, a customer interface for the second premises, which is modified particularly for the customer based upon information in the customer profile. 
   
     
     
         17 . The computing system of  claim 16 , wherein
 the computing device identifier is a MAC address or token of the computing device;   the first computing system includes a wireless local access network (WLAN) access point;   identifying the computing device identifier is accomplished by receiving beacon frames from the computing device at the WLAN access point, and identifying the MAC address or token in the beacon frames; and   prior to serving the customer recognition interface, the first computing system is configured to establish a network connection between the first computing system and the computing device, via the WLAN.   
     
     
         18 . The computing system of  claim 16 , wherein
 the first computing system has an associated first database configured to store customer profiles, and the second computing system has an associated second database configured to store customer profiles; and   prior to and as a pre-condition of serving a customer registration interface, the first computing system is configured to determine whether the computing device is associated with a pre-registered customer profile stored at the first database.   
     
     
         19 . The computing system of  claim 18 , wherein
 after determining that the computing device is not associated with a pre-registered customer profile stored at the first database, and prior to and as a precondition of serving the customer recognition interface, the first computing system is configured to determine that the computing device is not associated with a pre-registered customer profile stored at an aggregated database linked over a wide area network (WAN).   
     
     
         20 . The computerized method of  claim 16 , wherein the profile information includes a customer name and payment data for the customer.